Girls' Education

Choosing a high school for your daughter is a difficult thing, and everyone seems to have an opinion about the best school for her. It is a very important decision and the number of factors to weigh up is significant. One of those factors is whether on not to consider a single-sex school for years 7 - 12. A brief search for articles on the topic will reveal vast differences in opinions - and there is one very good reason for this. Every single-sex school is different, and the question is really about the quality and learning culture of a particular boys' school or girls' school. However, the experience of Caroline Chisholm College over forty years teaches us some valuable lessons about the gift of an all-girls education.

Girls from single-sex schools perform, on average, better than students from co-ed schools in NAPLAN and the HSC. They also perform, on average, better in 'non-traditional female subjects' such as mathematics, science and technology than girls in co-ed schools. But more than that, there is a different atmosphere in classrooms in an all girls' school. It is more settled, more focused and more cooperative than in co-ed schools. In our experience, students have more confidence to speak up, ask questions and take risks with their learning than when they are in a co-ed setting where they may be concerned about the judgement of the boys, or where they may struggle to break in to discussion and debate.

At Caroline Chisholm College, girls take centre stage in all of their learning. Our teachers have developed expertise in meeting the diverse needs of female students, and they create experiences where students, in a safe and supportive environment, can discover just how extraordinary they can be. We provide opportunities for our students to relate to boys, with structured acitivities with St Dominic's College and the other co-ed schools in the region. Far from being an unnatural or segregated approach to life, our graduates go out into the world with confidence in their skills and their values, ready to contribute to their communities.

Contact Us

Contact the school by phone on 4737 5500 during school office hours 8:30am to 3:00pm or send us a message by email.